If you're going to use a chicken carcass, cook it on low overnight in the water. In the morning, unplug the crock and let it cool before digging in with CLEAN hands to pick out the bones. Strain through a colander (retaining liquid!) if desired.Or, start with a slow cooker with 6 cups of water, and add chicken. Add all vegetables except for the spinach leaves. Stir in the bouillon and vinegar. Salt to taste. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until sweet potatoes are tender and the onion is translucent.

15 minutes before serving, put in raw spaghetti noodles and a large handful of spinach. Cover and flip to high.

Garnish with parmesan and asiago cheeses, if desired.

The Verdict.

This is such a wonderful, comforting soup. The balsamic vinegar does two things: 1, it really darkens the broth which provides a nice color, and 2, it brings the chicken flavor out so nicely while providing a touch of a tang. The tang is nice, because it fools your tongue into thinking it's tasting salt----which is mostly what you taste in canned chicken noodle soups.

Absolutely delicious. This fed our family of four for dinner, with just a bit leftover (and the kids were able to have 3rds!)

This sound so great! But . . . for me Chicken Noodle Soup has to have . . . Noodles! Can you guestimate about how much a 50 cent size bunch of spaghetti noodles would translate into regular flat noodles?

I made this soup the other night. It was delicious! I did tweek it just a little to my own personal taste. I added carrots, and several sprigs of fresh thyme. I served the leftovers two nights later and added a little cream to the soup to change it up a bit. It was wonderful! (how could it not be with cream in it?)

My only complaint was that my vegetables were done after about 4 hours, so I just turned it off and removed the crock from the base. I guess my crock-pot just cooks at a much higher temp. I'll have to remember that the next time I make any kind of vegetable in it.

I loved this. Made my own stock in the crock and then made this soup with just a few changes ( carrots and sweetcorn instead of spinach and sweet potato)and it is yum, yum, yummy. I'm so glad i made loads and have plenty of it portioned up in my freezer!

Steph,Here is a tip that you can probably use on either blog. I started doing after being inspired by things I'd read in Martha Steward Living, Matthew Bitman's NY Times column, and your crockpot blog.

Instead of buying boullion or ready made stock, I save cuttings from other meal prep: carrot and celery tops, onion outer layers, wilted herbs go in one bag; chicken bones in another; shrimp tails; beef bones each in their own zip lock bag in my freezer. I regularly prepare vegetable stock (and others as needed) in the following manner:

Place two or three generous handfuls of cuttings in crock pot. Fill with water, and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Strain out solids and keep refrigerate or freeze for a later use.

I love having a jar of vegetable stock in my fridge for sauteing vegetables, adding to my rice cooker, or making a quick soup.

hi there, the chicken I used was already cooked. If you prefer to use raw, it'll be just fine, but you'll need to cook it longer to tenderize the chicken. Cooking the already-cooked chicken doesn't run the risk of over-cooking---the chicken gets nice and shredded that way.

The smell in my house is divine!!!!I just tasted a small bowl even without the noodles and it was quite delicious. Never thought to add the balsamic and it adds a really nice flavor. To me once I add the noodles its going to be more of a noodle bowl....and much more acceptable in May when its 70+ degrees outside. I also love the different veggies to spice it up a bit over the celery/carrot combo. Its a keeper

I made this this week and used rice noodles, (Trader Joe's rice sticks) and they worked very well. My 3 teenage boys wolfed it down I had to double the quantity of liquids just to get by LOL I reckon if tou added mushrooms and dried mushrooms it would really enhance the flavor.Thanks for this one!

This was delicious!! And so very economical .... considering it uses a rotisserie chicken carcass which we all just toss. I was surprised how much chicken there actually was to work with. The balsamic vinegar really took this over the moon. What a great flavor for soup! I also tossed in 2 small zucchini, which I needed to use up, and also 1 clove of garlic because I was concerned this would be too bland for my tastes. I'll be making this soup and freezing it anytime I have a chicken carcass from here on out. Thanks. Love your blog.

I love all of these recipes. I only discovered this blog several weeks ago but have already made 6 recipes (which is a lot for a busy single gal). I was avoiding several recipes because they didn't have the correct cooking time frame. The ideal recipes require 9+ hours or less than 3 hours so I can start the Crock before work and eat when I get home (10 hours later) or so I can make it as soon as I get home and enjoy dinner before I die of starvation.

My solution: I bought a Digital Outlet Timer. I turn on the timer, plug the Crock (while on high or low) into the timer and when I get home I have a perfect meal waiting for me, no matter how much time was needed to cook it.

Elizabeth S. - that is such a good idea! I haven't used my crock pot in forever because I have the same problem. My crock pot burns everything by the time I get home, even though it goes to "warm" after I set it. I'll have to use your solution with the outlet timer next time!

I just made this chicken noodle soup and it is definitely one I'll make again. I tried to stretch it by adding more liquid, and I didn't have potatoes, so it was too watery, but the egg noodles I used made up for that. Next time I'll use the measurements you said. Was still very good--an easy and forgiving recipe. Thank you!

I made this yesterday and it was YUMMY! I pulled it out of the fridge today to have leftovers and almost all the liquid was gone! Looks like it was absorbed by the spaghetti noodles (I used regular noodles). It's still delicious, but now more of a savory, turkey and potato noodle dish!

I stumbled upon this website, not sure what led me here (you know how that goes, one link leads to another, on and on) ... I decided I was going to give recipe a try. One person said "Sweet potatoes? In chicken noodle soup? That's so weird!" while another said "You can't use spaghetti for soup!" but I like the idea that it doesn't come from a box or a can. And I'm so tired of either eating out or having hamburger helper all the time. This was a test, and everyone who complained ended up loving it. Tomorrow, I'm trying the black bean soup. Between this site and a "slow cooker for diabetics" cookbook I picked up, I think I might actually get my family used to eating good food, not just fast food!